Madagascar 2 2008

A

I enjoyed the first Madagascar movie, but I never wrote a review about it. In Netflix I gave it 4 stars ("really liked it"). There is a good group of core characters and then a number of great side characters like the British commando penguins, and a crazed Indian-accented lemur, King Julien. This movie picks up shortly after the last movie ended, though we have to get some backstory on one of the prime characters, Alex the Lion.

The plot borrows liberally from The Lion King, and while that plot is pretty good, this movie is more about the characters and the jokes. Each of the four main characters have their own story and that is on top of what Julien and the penguins are up to. After the flashback, the movie starts out really funny and I thought they would soon get bogged down in plot. They do that somewhat, but the movie stays funny and light (a lot lighter than Lion King) throughout. That is no easy task. Even though the movie is only 90 minutes, a lot of animated features sag a lot more and lose their spark. In my view the humor was geared more towards grown-ups than little kids. I think kids will enjoy it, but certainly not on the same level.

It’s a silly movie, but it is even better than the first. This time I gave it five stars in Netflix ("loved it"), so it gets an A.

Written: 25 Jul 2009

Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital